Toy parachute



Feb. 8, 1966 c. H. POPLIN 3,233,360

TOY PARACHUTE Filed Sept. 11, 1963 l/ll/Ir;

INVENTOR.

Car/ h. Pop I/n ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,233,360 TOY PARACHUTE Carl H. Poplin, 2718 Shady Lawn Drive, Greensboro, N.C. Filed Sept. 11, 1963, Ser. No. 368,238 1 Claim. (Cl. 46-86) This invention relates to a toy parachute and more particularly to a toy parachute enclosed within a deformable capsule that will open to expose the parachute for descending flight.

Various types of toy parachutes have been devised, such as those presented in US. Patents Nos. 1,455,073; 1,518,344; 1,723,793; 1,775,299; 1,938,931 and 2,744,356, among others, in which there is housed a parachute that will open to retard the descent of an enclosing chamber.

This invention presents a toy parachute also wherein a deformable parachute retaining capsule is provided with valve control means to admit air to control the time approximately when the capsule will burst open to expose the parachute and retard the downward flight of the capsule.

It is also an objective of this invention to provide an inexpensive toy in which a parachute is contained within a capsule which may also contain means for controlling the admission of air to part interconnected halves of the capsule to expose a parachute that will control the descent of the toy through the atmosphere.

Other objects and many of the attendant advantages of this toy parachute will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a toy parachute embodying the invention illustrating the parachute in the open position supported by one of the capsule halves to which the other capsule half is connected;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating in exploded form the closed capsule with the air inlet control valve and connecting means; and

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially along the plane of section line 33 of FIG. 2 and in which the air inlet control components are afiixed to the capsule with the parachute enclosed within the parachute receiving chamber.

Referring to the drawing and more particularly to FIG. 1, there is shown a parachute toy with a parachute cloth 11 which may be made of woven or knitted fabric or a plastic sheet to which parachute cloth 11 a series of strings 12 is secured about the perimeter of the parachute with the strings 12 being secured at their opposite ends to the focal securing screw 13 threadably fastened into the concave or dished interior 14 of the capsule member 15. A cooperating capsule member 16 provided with a cone spondingly concave or dished interior 17 is secured to the capsule member through the resilient hinging link 18. The resilient hinging link 18 is preferably formed integrally with the capsule members 15 and 16 and will position the members so as to register the flange or rim surfaces 19 and 20 of the members in sealing engagement to form a parachute-receiving chamber 21.

Within the interior 17 of the member 16 is a pair of openings 22 and 23 of which the latter is an orifice to admit air into the chamber as will be described hereafter. The openings 22 and 23 extend through the thickened portion of the member 16 which has a greater thickness than the portion of the member immediately adjacent to the rim 20, and each of the members are substantially the same. A circular disk 24 is provided with a series of circumferentialiy spaced-apart openings 25 which will control the amount of air passing into the chamber 21 wherein each of the openings 25 is placed in registry with Fatented Feb. 8, 1966 ICC the orifice 23 in the base 26 of the member 16. The disk 24 is rotatably supported on the rivet 27 that is secured to the base 26 through the Opening 22 therein. As is more clearly shown in FIG. 3, the orifice 23 is shown to be in registry with one of the openings 25 in the disk 24 to admit air at the rate of flow which will result from the size opening 25 in registry with the opening 23.

It has been found desirabie to make the capsule and the connecting resilient link 18 from a suitable resilient deformabie material such a polyethylene or other suitable plastic material including rubber or a suitable synthetic and preferably a material that may be molded integrally so as to form the connecting ink 18 in a manner so as to suitably orient the members of the capsule with a minimum of ditficulty so as to have the flanges or rims 19 and 20 cooperate to form an air seal when the capsule members are compressed.

In operation, the parachute 11 is folded into the parachute receiving chamber 21 and the members 15 and 16 are placed in opposed relationship, as shown in FIG. 3. The shell-like capsule is compressed so as to discharge air retained within the chamber 21 and the opening 25 is closed by ones finger. In the collapsed or compressed condition, the capsule is projected as by throwing into the air permitting the collapsed capsule to expand upon the admission of air through the desired orifice 25 placed in registry with the opening 23. When the desired internal air pressure is reached, the capsule members 15 and 16 will spring apart and the parachute will be exposed to open upon descent of the capsule members. Obviously the time for the capsule opening may vary depending upon the opening 25 that is placed in registry with the orifice 23.

Many modifications and variations may be made to the air control valve and the means for adjusting it as well as the configuration of the capsule members without departing from the purpose and spirit of this toy and such modifications are contemplated within the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A parachute toy comprising an air pressure openable capsule having a pair of cooperating resiliently deformable dished members of frusto-conical configuration each of said members having mating flanged surfaces, said members having integrally formed therewith a resiliently foldable link retaining said members in an open or closed orientation, each of said frusto-conical members having a fiat base portion, at least one of said members having an orifice therein, fiat disk means having a plurality of openings of different sizes rotatably mounted to said member having an orifice therein for positioning each of said openings selectively for registration with said orifice to control the rate of air flow into a chamber formed by said members in the closed mating position, and a parachute with connecting lines secured to the interior of one of said members which parachute will be exposed for opening upon descent of an opened capsule.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,938,931 12/1933 Newman 46 86 2,410,682 11/ 1946 Richardson. 2,796,697 6/1957 Beyrodt 46-86 2,922,251 l/ 1960 Coieman 46-86 FOREIGN PATENTS 14,970 1890 Great Britain. 887,172 1/ 1962 Great Britain.

RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner.

LOUIS J. BOVASSO, Assistant Examiner. 

